In 1964 two brothers took a chance and started their own business. Nearly 60 years later JABO Supply has 90 employees in three states and is nearing $50 million in annual sales.
By James E. Casto
HQ 123 | AUTUMN 2023
In 1964, brothers Jack and Bob Bazemore took a big chance. They quit their sales jobs with a local pipe supplier and struck out on their own. Next year, the new company they formed, JABO Supply Corp., will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
The company the Bazemores worked for in 1964 distributed pipe for the waterworks and wastewater industries. But the two brothers sensed that the region’s many chemical plants presented an untapped opportunity, one their employer didn’t seem to be interested in exploring. So, they quit their jobs and formed JABO Supply — a name derived from the first two letters of each brother’s name. Today, JABO is a major wholesale distributor of pipe, valves and fittings to a wide variety of chemical, industrial, coal and power customers.
The two men went to the old 20th Street Bank, outlined what they had in mind and walked out with the loan they needed to cover the startup costs of their new venture. They opened their first location in a small brick building in back of an Amoco service station on Huntington’s 27th Street. They started out with just two other employees. The company’s growth was slow but steady, and in 1970 the brothers were able to purchase property on Huntington’s 31st Street and build a 15,000-square-foot building.
In 1978, Bob Bazemore suffered a fatal heart attack. Jack Bazemore has always credited much of the company’s early success to his brother Bob’s “good business sense and his fairness to customers, employees and everyone with whom he came in contact.” Following Bob’s death, Jack was joined in operating the business by another brother, Jerry, who served as operations manager until his retirement in 2000.
Jack’s son Jay began working at the company when he was 17 years old, working his way up to vice president. Last year, his father turned the presidency of the family-owned company over to him.
Now 88, the elder Bazemore serves as chairman of the board and still comes to work once a week or so.
“I always joke he comes in just in time for me to take him to lunch,” says Jay. “But we talk about what’s going on with the company. He always likes to check out our inventory. He pokes around for a while, and then goes home.”
Jay says working with his dad over the years has taught him some valuable lessons.
“He taught me that there is only one way of doing business and that is to always be fair, respectful and just. Never do anything someone could interpret as below board.”
Jay says he also noticed how his father surrounded himself with people of the same character and culture, knowing having equally intelligent people can yield lots of valuable ideas.
Today, JABO employs 90 people, many of whom have been with the company for a number of years.
“I think we have a good team here,” says Jay. “A key member of that team is Joe Holley, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. He’s been with us since 1975 and has played an important role in our growth and success.”
In 1990, JABO had outgrown its second home on 31st Street and needed room to expand. So, it executed a 100-year lease for a tract of land and built a new office, warehouse and manufacturing facility at 5164 Braley St., just off U.S. 60 and Interstate 64 in east Huntington. Today, the 110,000-square-foot complex houses a multimillion-dollar inventory.
In addition to its Huntington headquarters, the company has four branch locations — in Parkersburg and Beckley in West Virginia; in Norton, Virginia, and in Morganfield, Kentucky. The five locations enable JABO to service customers in all of West Virginia and parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Illinois.
West Virginia’s chemical industry is no longer the powerhouse it once was, and as the chemical industry declined, JABO began turning to the coal industry for business. Today, coal mining companies and coal contractors who service the mines account for nearly half of JABO’s overall business.
“Our annual sales have been steadily growing,” says Jay. “Last year we had our best year ever, with $42.5 million in sales. Our goal is to hit $50 million, and I’m confident we’ll get there.”
